Meregosian referendum on Pacific Islands Forum membership, 2016
The Meregosian referendum on Pacific Islands Forum membership took place on March 25 2016, resulting in a vote to 'Leave' the union. Membership of the Pacific Islands Forum has been a controversial issue in Meregos since the country joined the union in 1999. XXX One of the main causes of the referendum was the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement between the United States of America, several North and South American states, several Asian states and several members of the Pacific Islands Forum- notably Australia and New Zealand. Disenchantment with the Forum first rose to significant levels when delegates from the United States and Australia have hinted at the Partnership being imposed upon all member states of the Pacific Islands Forum. Vehemently against TTP since its early stages, the suggestion of such action was the tipping point for the Meregosian Rykstemig, who had already become disillusioned by the negative side effects of Pacific Islands Forum membership. The result of the referendum was a vote to 'Leave', with an unprecedented landslide of 84% voting to leave, with just 11% voting to remain. History Procedure There is no precedent for a sovereign member state leaving the Pacific Islands Forum or its predecessor organisation, the South Pacific Forum. However, Fiji was suspended between 2009 and 2014 for failing to uphold the democratic principles of the Forum. There is no legal procedure in place for a state to exit the Forum. Results of a withdrawal Response Formal political campaigns In 2001 the Meregos Ward Association was formed when the Pacific Islands Forum expelled Meregos from the PIF's free trade agreements for refusing to produce its government expenditure for the Forum to examine. Since then, the 'Meregos Ward Association' is synonymous with the 'leave' campaign. A cross-party union, known as 'Pacific Unity' was formed on 15 January 2016 after 150 politicians from across the Eight Islands signed an agreement offering their united support to the 'remain' campaign. Party policies Politicians campaigning independently to remain in the PIF Politicians campaigning independently to leave the PIF * On February 1, King Karim I confirmed that he would be supporting the Meregos Ward Association, and thus the leave campaign by extension Media promoting Meregos remaining in the PIF Media promoting Meregos leaving the PIF Regional government promoting Meregos remaining in the PIF Regional government promoting Meregos leaving the PIF Local government promoting Meregos remaining in the PIF Local government promoting Meregos leaving the PIF Business opinion International responses Australia United States of America European Union After the referendum was announced in January 2016, Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission of the European Union sent a message to the Meregosians offering his support to the 'stay' campaign, stating that the world is increasingly globalising and it would be beneficial for Meregos to remain a member of the Pacific Islands Forum where its voice can be heard louder on an international scale. On January 21 2016 it was uncovered that the European Union had given a €1 million donation to the 'Pacific Unity' campaign. This breached Meregosian electoral rules, and thus the donation was confiscated and the Pacific Unity group were suspended from campaigning temporarily, until an agreement was struck allowing the Meregosian Electoral Commission full access to the financial records of the group. Exit plan competition Opinion polling Issues Counting areas Result Aftermath Category:Referendums in Meregos Category:International organisations Category:Pacific Islands Forum